Gospel Commentary for Sunday, November 2, 2025

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace and all good.

This year, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed falls on a Sunday. For that reason, we set aside the Gospel of Luke and turn instead to Matthew’s Gospel. On this day, “the Holy Mother Church, after celebrating with due praise the joy of all her children who are blessed in heaven, intercedes before the Lord for the souls of all who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith and who sleep in the hope of the resurrection—and for all the departed from the beginning of the world, whose faith God alone knows—that, purified from every stain of sin and joined to the citizens of heaven, they may enjoy the vision of eternal happiness.” (Roman Martyrology, as cited in the Liturgical-Pastoral Calendar of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Madrid 2024–2025, p. 331).

The first reading, taken from the Book of Job, can be read as a powerful declaration of faith and hope in a Savior. Despite his deep suffering and pain, Job expresses his unshakable conviction that his Redeemer lives and that, in the end, he will see Him with his own eyes. His hope is rooted in the certainty that his Redeemer will vindicate and rescue him—even beyond death—foreshadowing faith in the resurrection and eternal life.

Poor Job wants his words to last, to serve as an expression of faith. He knows there is a Savior who will rescue him from death and the dust, because there is life after death. And Job will meet his Maker face to face, to receive the reward for the works done in life. In a way, Job already anticipates Christian faith in Christ’s resurrection. He is a model of trust and perseverance—despite all his suffering, he remains sure that God is with him, and that certainty helps him keep going.

Indeed, as Saint Paul says, hope does not disappoint. We have every reason for hope, because Christ died for us. No human being, not even the holiest, could take upon himself the sins of all and offer a sacrifice for everyone. Only in Christ, the divine Son—whose person surpasses and embraces all humanity, making Him the Head of all people—could such redemptive sacrifice be possible. And of course, Christ offered Himself for me. That is the reason for my hope.

The Beatitudes are a central element in today’s reflection for All Souls’ Day. They are the lights that guide us along the right path. Pope Francis once said that these Beatitudes—meekness, poverty of spirit, justice, mercy, and purity of heart—are the lights that accompany us so that we don’t lose our way on our journey toward God. In his homily on November 2, 2018, the Holy Father explained that between the memory of the past and the hope of the future lies the dimension of the present—the road we must walk—and that this road is illuminated by the Beatitudes taught by Jesus in the Gospel. These teachings not only give moral guidance, but also strengthen our faith and hope in eternal life, especially as we remember our departed loved ones.

Each Beatitude reminds us that those whom the world considers poor, afflicted, or disadvantaged are, in fact, blessed by the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven. We must learn to see with God’s eyes.

These Beatitudes, which we have heard so many times, form a kind of road map that helps us live in awareness of God’s grace already present in our lives—grace that shines through those who recognize their spiritual need, live with humility, seek justice and peace, and endure persecution for the sake of faith. Their ultimate purpose is to reveal the character of God’s Kingdom and to guide disciples to live in a way that reflects Him.

The readings for this day remind us that death is not an end but a passage—a doorway of light and truth that each of us must cross. Jesus reminds us that we belong to Him and will be with Him, though we must first pass through judgment, where His mercy will also be His justice.

Now, as pilgrims on the way to eternal life, we pray for all our departed brothers and sisters in the communion of saints. We all seek to be purified by His love, for in God’s eyes, everyone is alive—forever and ever.

Your brother in faith,